Galatasaray lands big man Songaila

Turkish Airlines Euroleague hopeful Galatasaray bolstered its frontline by signing experienced big man Darius Songaila for the coming season. Songaila (2.06 meters, 33 years old) returns to Europe after spending the past eight seasons in the NBA. Songaila's only Euroleague season to date was in 2002-03 with CSKA Moscow in which he averaged 12.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game to help the team to the 2003 Barcelona Final Four, the first of eight in a row that would follow for CSKA. Since then he has played a total of 516 games for Sacramento, Chicago, Washington, New Orleans and Philadelphia in the NBA. Songaila’s best individual season was in 2005-06 in which he averaged 9.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in 62 games for Chicago. Last season injuries limited Songaila to just 1.6 points and 1.0 rebounds in 10 appearances. Songaila has also been a regular contributor with the Lithuanian national team, with whom he was EuroBasket 2003 champion and won an Olympic bronze medal in 2000.